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Cleveland freshmen with poor grades in eighth grade will be able to play fall sports or join extracurricular clubs this fall after the school board passed a "Freshman Fresh Start" that waives eligibility rules for students just starting high school.
(JOSHUA GUNTER)

Should Cleveland give its new high school freshman a break on grade requirements? Tell us below.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Poor grades in eighth grade will no longer block new Cleveland high school freshmen from participating in sports or other interscholastic clubs.

The school board recently approved a "Freshman Fresh Start"that eases the district's eligibility requirements, waiving the mandatory grade point average that applies to all other grades.

Eric Gordon, the district's chief executive officer, told the school board that he wants students just entering high school to have a chance to engage in school activities and become part of that school's life, rather than being shut out right at the start.

"They at least have a chance," Gordon said.

District policy requires students to have a grade point average of 2.0 or higher, the equivalent of a solid C average, to participate in any extracurricular activities that involve other schools or districts. That GPA requirement is both for the previous grading period and cumulative.

The district also declares a student who fails a single class in the previous marking period to be ineligible.

The new "Fresh Start" only requires incoming ninth graders to have passed at least five classes the previous grading period.

That means that they can have failed a sixth class or had low grades in eighth grade and still participate. The standard district eligibility rules kick in after that first grading period.

Gordon noted that Cleveland's grade point requirement is higher than that of many districts.

Deborah Moore, associate commissioner of the Ohio High School Athletic Association, said the state leaves it up to districts to determine eligibility requirements. OHSAA only requires students to pass five courses in the previous grading period.

"The OHSAA is not tasked with telling any district what standards they must apply or how they must apply them," Moore said. " Many of our districts, for example, have chosen not to adopt a no-pass no-play policy, so Cleveland's policy of applying that standard except for the one time when a student rises into 9th grade is perfectly compatible with the law as I understand it."

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